Passion
by EsteVamp4998
Summary: He saved her, but she wished he hadn't. She sees herself as weak, but she's the strongest person he's ever met. One-Shot! This explores the feelings of Natsu and Lucy for each other!


**Hello! Thank you first of all for opening my one-shot! This is my 23rd story and I have not posted on fanfiction for two years now, I am so excited for you to read my NaLu story.**

 ** _I DO NOT own the manga/anime Fairy Tail, Hiro Mashima does and what an awesome artist he is!_**

 ** _So without further ado, please enjoy my One-Shot, 'Passion'_**

* * *

"If only I was stronger, t-this wouldn't have happened!" Lucy wailed as she held onto Natsu's hand tightly; his pulse was weak.

Lucy was blaming herself; she couldn't live with herself if something happened to him- he had to be okay.

He just had to be with her.

* * *

Earlier that day, the team faced an opponent that was stronger than they anticipated. Of course, they could beat him; there was no question about it, however, in that last moment, Lucy was six feet in front of the snarling glare that belonged to the enemy. She was too stunned by his last attack that her legs wouldn't move- her heartbeat was accelerating; she knew she was the one to dominate the enemy with the last blow, but she couldn't do it. The thoughts of what the man said to her kept repeating in her mind: _"Looks like you're the weakling, HA!"_ His laugh, that horrible snickering sound echoed and echoed- he called her weak, her greatest fear, and she believed him.

As the man raised his arm and shouted, "DIE!" Natsu rescued her in the last second- saved her from the enemy's blast attack, but he was the one that received the fatal blow that sent Natsu and Lucy flying in the air and then rolling in the dirt until Natsu's back collided against a boulder. He took the blow, protected her right then and there, as they flew, as he shifted his body weight, so he would be the one to brace the impact with his back- covering her head with his hand, wrapping the other around her waist.

Erza was the one that took immediate action and struck the enemy, her anger was controlled, but that didn't mean she could resist sending the enemy flying as well. While Erza finished the job, Gray ran over to them, and he witnessed Lucy trying to wake Natsu- slapping him across the face, shaking his body, until she crumbled and begged for him to be okay.

Gray carried Natsu back to the Fairy Tail guild. Erza helped Lucy up after she tied the enemy and let the town's guards carry him away, but she couldn't relieve the shock from the incident from her, but Lucy stayed quite the remainder of the way, and Happy went back to the customer who hired them for the mission, grabbing the payment gloomily.

* * *

Now, they were all surrounding Natsu as he laid in the infirmary bed, safely back at Fairy Tail

"Why'd you even cover me from that blast!" she tightened her grip, "Idiot Natsu! I'm the one who should have gotten hurt! NOT YOU!" Lucy wailed louder. Her head dropped down by his, she felt so ashamed.

Erza, couldn't take it anymore, she knew Lucy was suffering, but she knew that it wouldn't wake Natsu if she continued crying. It broke her heart whenever a comrade was in pain; emotionally or physically. She placed her hand on Lucy's shoulder. "Lucy, don't exert yourself. It wasn't your fault that he got hurt-"

The celestial spirit mage shot up at looked at Erza. Tears were rolling down her face. "Y-yes it is Erza! If I hadn't started a fight with Natsu before we left for the mission, I wouldn't have attacked by myself! I shouldn't have listened to that man! I shouldn't have listened to his taunt. I should've-"

"Lucy, what are you talking about? This morning, yes, before you left you guys were arguing, but that doesn't mean-"

"Erza, you don't get it I failed you all! I let the enemy get to me and I know I'm not weak, but he made me think I was and I hesitated," Lucy dropped her head in shame, "And I shouldn't have been holding a grudge on Natsu." She Lucy remembered, before they set out on their mission, Natsu burst through her window of her apartment with Happy chomping down on a fish.

* * *

The dragon slayer and the fish eater witnessed Lucy coming out of the shower- towel and all, the window was exactly in front of her bathroom. Without her knowledge, since her eyes were burning from a bit of soap that she missed on her forehead, Lucy let her towel cascade to the ground while she reached to splash water on her face from the sink, and right then and there Natsu covered Happy's eyes, making him lose the fish he was chomping on and the slayer called out, "Wait a sec' Luce! You-"

Like any other woman in that type of situation would do- she screamed, no, it was more a shriek and Lucy was so startled that she stumbled and slipped on the water on the bathroom floor. Soap was still in her eyes, her back ached from the fall, and Lucy was enraged from the embarrassment. "NATSU!"

"I swear my eyes closed right when I saw-"

Still struggling on the bathroom floor. "Get out! Get out! How many times do I have to tell you Natsu!"

"Natsu? Natsu? What happened? Why is Lucy screaming?" Happy's eyes were still covered, "Nooo my fish!"

Natsu's head was spinning, Happy was clawing at his hand and, in front of him, with his eyes closed, he heard Lucy's words of fury coming right at him as she made her way towards him.

"I'm really sorry Luce, I thought you were ready!"

"Leave Natsu!"

"Okay, okay," Natsu stumbled back and searched for the window while using his left hand to guide him in the air, "We wanted to walk with you to the guide before the mission, but we're sor-" but before Natsu could finish his sentence, he couldn't help but notice that his hand landed on something soft, and round, and very soft…

Lucy let out the most high-pitched scream that Natsu opened his eyes in fear that something had happened to her. He looked her straight in the face, she didn't look scared, but her face was red, and she was looking down at her chest and- that's when Natsu knew he was a dead man.

* * *

Lucy looked straight into Erza's eyes with tears escaping, "I should've forgiven him, he didn't mean to and I-"

A sharp pain came across Lucy's cheek.

Lucy starred at Erza with bewilderment.

Gray held Erza back. "Oi Erza, don't you think you went too far..."

Erza ignored him and let her arm fall back down to her side. She slapped Lucy, not out of anger, but for her to realize something very important. "Don't you _dare_ think it was your fault. If Natsu didn't cover you-you wouldn't be here right now. He acted at the last second and took the blow, don't blame yourself, Lucy." Erza bent down and embraced Lucy, "I'm sorry I slapped you, but please you have to realize that Natsu cares about you, he wouldn't let anything hurt you even if he had to die from it. Because of him, Fairy Tail didn't lose a family member."

Lucy returned Erza's embrace, "I-I'm sorry... I know he did it for me but, why? "

"Lucy-" Gray spoke, "He would've saved you anyway at any given moment- in any situation. He cares for you."

"He's right Lucy, Natsu wanted to do this." Happy tugged on Lucy's shirt. "He-he's stupid, but he cares for all his comrades, and you too Lucy. I bet, if it were an option, he would've traded a thousand piles of fish just to make sure a shark wouldn't rip your leg off!"

Lucy chuckled and sighed,"That doesn't make any sense Happy-"

But, maybe it did make perfect sense... Flashes of the attack raced through Lucy's mind, she heard something before Natsu went unconscious. As they were flying in the air, she remembered the words Natsu had whispered in her ear. Lucy looked at her friends, finally realizing that the idiot dragon slayer would do anything for her, he saved her, but she felt the emotion behind his words- striking her heart with the breath of just a whisper and she just knew. "Can I have some time with him? Alone?"

With a wary glance at each other, Erza, Gray, and Happy left the infirmary, understanding that she needed her space and time with him.

* * *

The sun had just set, and she was fixing Natsu's blanket; repositioning it to make sure he was warm, but it didn't make much of a difference since Natsu was always warm by nature. She wanted to protect him this time, even if it was something simple.

Mira came in occasionally to make sure Natsu wasn't getting any worse, and Lucy paid attention to her instructions on checking if anything was abnormal from the monitors. So far, Natsu was doing great, besides still being unconscious, but he was alive and Lucy couldn't have been any more thankful. She needed to know. Just what was Natsu thinking when Lucy was being attacked?

She sat back down beside his bed, letting her hands wrap around his. She noted the features of his face, his eyes were closed but she couldn't help but remember how often she saw them greeting her, sparkling effortlessly with his bright cheeky smile. Without noticing, Lucy started to drift off, her head kept nodding until her head rested next to his.

* * *

"Please, wake up..."

Natsu woke to the sounds of a female voice; he turned his head and found Lucy's face centimeters away from his. Her eyes were closed, and he noticed dry tears around her eyes, but she was there, right in front of his face. Natsu couldn't help but frown as he recalled the moment when he thought he almost lost her.

He saw Lucy facing the enemy just a few feet in front of each other- he didn't realize how close she had gotten to him while he was distracted when Gray has slammed against him from the opponent's last attack. When he looked up, he saw her terrified. Lucy would've finished the job as soon as she gotten close enough to hurt the enemy, but something happened. He could tell by her face that something was wrong, and before realized he saw the man raising his arm. At that moment he only thought of one thing: Save her. Instantly, Natsu pushed Gray out of the way and sprang into action to grab Lucy, but the enemy was a magic user and he was quick. Too quick that Natsu knew if he didn't block the attack, Lucy would suffer. So, he blocked her, covered her head and whispered in her ear, "It's alright Luce," he could feel her body shake, and once he realized that they were heading into the boulder- he blocked her again.

That's when he blacked out.

Staring back at her, he sighed in relief, _"She's okay,"_ he reminded himself and moved his head closer to her. She looked stunning, yes, her eyes were puffy, and her hair was an absolute mess, but she remained gorgeous to him in any aspect. He couldn't resist holding back any longer, he was just so glad that he was okay and planted a kiss on her forehead. "I thought I lost you, Luce…"

Lucy's head sprang up, eyes completely locked with Natsu's. The dragon slayer smirked as he saw her cheeks taking a crimson color. "You're awake, Natsu! I need to let everyone know and-" After Lucy got up and was able to pull her arms from grasping Natsu's, he instantly gathered Lucy in his arms and rest her head on his chest.

"You have no idea how terrified I was Luce," he stroked her hair, and Lucy would feel his breath tingling against her neck. "As soon as I saw what he was about to do I couldn't imagine letting you get hurt and-"

Lucy pushed against Natsu's chest and looked at him, she really could see that he was worried, his eyes told her everything that he was feeling. "No, I'm sorry about this morning Natsu," Lucy felt her cheeks develop a deeper hue of red again, "I overreacted, and when you touched-"

He felt the stutter in her voice and shook his head. "I really didn't mean to do that Luce, I kept my eyes open the entire time until I heard you scream and I thought something was wrong and," he sighed, "I'm-"

This time, Lucy shook her head and cleared his pink hair that was falling against his face, "It's okay, you pretty much redeemed yourself…"

Lucy couldn't help but peer into Natsu's eyes, she lost her train of thought, "Thank you for saving me-" His eyes sucked the life out of her. Natsu seemed to rile her up at times, but usually, he was her best friend that she always knew could be there for her at any given moment, and he proved that.

Natsu stared back into Lucy's eyes since they first met, Natsu thought of Lucy as a girl who wanted to find her own place in life. For all the years they've known each other, he watched her grow, not only as a mage but as a person who cared for those around her and wanted to help with all her might. He couldn't help but find that attractive, and he always knew that she was that one that claimed his heart.

"Luce, can I-"

"Mhmm."

He received the confirmation that he's been dying from her. He didn't hesitate and lifted Lucy up and he sat up on the infirmary bed and sat her right next to him. They were face to face, never taking each other's eyes off one another. Looking down at her lips, Natsu made his move.

She could feel the emotion of carefulness from him, his lips and his hands moved in a caring gesture, making sure she wouldn't crumble from their touch. A great amount of warmth rushed through her body and she felt their kiss starting to intensify, and Lucy couldn't help but push her lips harder on his.

That warmth turned into a flame, a flame of understanding that their worries for one another, their friendship, their trust, and their now confirmed love was a true passion that neither of them wanted to let go. They needed each other, even if they got on each other's nerves, their friendship grew throughout the years and neither of them wanted to risk the one-sided feeling of 'what if they don't feel the same way' well, now they knew.

Natsu couldn't help but grin through their kiss. "Finally," was all he could conjure.

Lucy grinned as well, parting their faces so she could look him in the eyes and agreed, "Finally."

"FINALLY!"

The couple's head shot over to the entrance of the infirmary, and to their surprise, but what could one expect from the Fairy Tail guide? Their fellow members stood at the door, and in the crowd, Happy, Mira, Ezra, and Gray were shaking their heads in disbelief- in a good way.

"You know, it's about time that happened," Erza laughed and she smacked Gray against his back.

"Geeze," wincing from the pain, "Man, you won the bet, Mira," Gray announced as he passed his money over to her.

Happy let out an exasperated sighed, "And I'm the one that was supposed to win the bet!"

Ignoring that frenzy of the Fairy Tail member, Natsu and Lucy stared back at each other.

"You know," Natsu grinned.

Lucy couldn't help but laugh. "What?"

Natsu rested his forehead against hers. "The blast took a pretty toll on me, it's unfortunate we can't get away from here until I get the clear from Mira."

"You know, I think we'll do just fine, all you have to do is suck it up and get well soon," Lucy quickly planted a kiss on Natsu's forehead and sighed happily, "Thank you Natsu."

He laughed as he grabbed her hands and smiled at her. "No, thank you."

* * *

 **Thank you so much! I hoped you enjoyed it, it's so good to write again after two years! Let me know what you think by reveiws- they inspire me to create more stories that you all would like and what you're looking forward to in the future whether I should create more Fairy Tail stories!**

 **Thank you**

 **~EsteVamp4998~**


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